Various technologies have been developed that allow a person to sense and interact with a computer-generated environment, often through visual and sound effects provided to the person or persons by the devices providing the computer-generated environment. These computer-generated environments are sometimes referred to as “virtual reality” or “VR” environments. For example, a user may avail of a VR experience using one or more wearable devices, such as a headset. A VR headset may include various output components, such as a display screen that provides visual images to the user, and speakers that output sounds. In some examples, a VR headset may provide additional sensory effects, such as tactile sensations provided by way of movement or vibrations. In some examples, the computer-generated environment may provide audio effects to a user or users through speakers or other devices not necessarily worn by the user, but rather, where the user is positioned within audible range of the speakers. Similarly, head-mounted displays (HMDs) exist that allow a user to see the real world in front of the user (as the lenses are transparent) and to see graphic overlays (e.g., from projectors embedded in the HMD frame), as a form of “augmented reality” or “AR.” Similarly, systems exist that allow a user to experience the real world with the addition to VR elements, as a form of “mixed reality” or “MR.”
VR, MR, and AR systems may incorporate capabilities to render higher-order ambisonics (HOA) signals, which are often represented by a plurality of spherical harmonic coefficients (SHC) or other hierarchical elements. That is, the HOA signals that are rendered by a VR, MR, or AR system may represent a three dimensional (3D) soundfield. The HOA or SHC representation may represent the 3D soundfield in a manner that is independent of the local speaker geometry used to playback a multi-channel audio signal rendered from the SHC signal. The SHC signal may also facilitate backwards compatibility as the SHC signal may be rendered to well-known and highly adopted multi-channel formats, such as a 5.1 audio channel format or a 7.1 audio channel format. The SHC representation may therefore enable a better representation of a soundfield that also accommodates backward compatibility.